I

was surprised to see the nasty caricature in your newspaper dated March 23. The personal hatred and malice of the cartoonist is so obvious; it clearly lacks decency to respect the difficult time everybody is going through.

Yes, it is true that Myanmar is still one of the few countries not yet affected by the deadly COVID-19. As the most prevalent and deadliest virus that rapidly kills and harms large numbers of people, its prevalence cannot be hidden in any way.

Nevertheless, the government is seriously concerned about the high possibility of the disease’s prevalence in the country and also the country's vulnerability in terms of resource constraints. In light of these challenges, all-out work on preparation, prevention, quarantine, treatment, awareness and son has been launched with the whole-government approach and inclusive participation of conscientious citizens and civil society organizations.

Efforts are made to inform and update the people in transparent and timely manner and the domestic media is instrumental and supportive in this regard.

We regret that The Jakarta Post posted such an indecent caricature. It is apparently a personal attack on a leader of a country that has built friendly relations with Indonesia for seven decades.